All Walmart stores in Portland to permanently close

PORTLAND, Ore. (KPTV/Gray News) – The last two Walmart stores within Portland’s city limits will be closing later this month, the company announced.

The locations, at 1123 North Hayden Meadows Drive and at 4200 Southeast 82nd Avenue at the Eastport Plaza, will both close March 24.

Walmart said they are closing the stores because they were not meeting financial expectations.

“The decision to close these stores was made after a careful review of their overall performance,” a Walmart spokesperson said. “We consider many factors, including current and projected financial performance, location, population, customer needs, and the proximity of other nearby stores when making these difficult decisions. After we decide to move forward, our focus is on our associates and their transition, which is the case here.”

People who live near the stores that are closing say the closure is going to have a big impact on low-income shoppers.

“Safeway is the go-to-store if I have to, but that’s three times the price I would spend here,” Walmart shopper Amanda Pahl said. “What are we going to do? You’ve got to go further then you have to spend gas money. Might as well pay for it at Safeway at this point.”

According to a Walmart spokesperson, pharmacy staff will work with customers to transfer their prescriptions to other locations before the store closing date.

All employees at the two locations will have the option to transfer to other, nearby locations.

There will still be more than a dozen Walmart stores in the Portland metro area, outside of Portland’s city limits.

Copyright 2023 KPTV via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.